Construction of toys actuated by a pulling band such as a rack



March 1, 1966 ss CONSTRUCTION OF TOYS ACTUATED BY A PULLING BAND SUCH ASA RACK 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1963 mm mm wa mw W .5; mm W WM 9lNVE/VTOR HELMUT KARL BRO-$5 ATTORNEY March 1, 1966 H. K. BROSS3,237,342

CONSTRUCTION OF TOYS ACTUATED BY A PULLING BAND SUCH AS A RACK FiledJune 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HELMUT KARL BROSS BY TM T. fir

March 1, 1966 oss 3,237,342

CONSTRUCTION OF TOYS ACTUATED BY A PULLING BAND SUCH AS A RACK FiledJune 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR HELMUT KARL BROSS BYTAML T. 9M

March 1, 1966 H. K. BROSS 3,237,342

CONSTRUCTION OF TOYS ACTUATED BY A PULLING BAND SUCH AS A RACK FiledJune 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR HELMUT KARL BROSS March 1, 1966H. K. BROSS 3,237,342

CONSTRUCTION OF TOYS ACTUATED BY A PULLING BAND SUCH AS A RACK FiledJune '25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR HELMUT KARL BROSS BY TMTaLWUnited States Patent O 3,237,342 CONSTRUCTION OF TOYS ACTUATED BY APULL- ING BAND SUCH AS A RACK Helmut Karl Bross, Altenberg uberNurnberg, Germany,

assignor of fifty percent to Frank T. Johmann, Berkeley Heights, NJ.

Filed June 25, 1963, Ser. No. 290,425 6 Claims. (Cl. 46--75) Thisinvention relates to toys. Particularly, the invention relates to toysincluding a driving means, e.g. a propeller, connected to a rotatablepinion gear wherein said pinion gear and driving means can be rotated bymeans of a pulling band.

In my prior US. patent application, Serial No. 257,432 filed February11, 1963, under the title of Toy, I described a series of toys usingrotational energy for their drive wherein rotational energy was storedin a flywheel by rapidly pulling a pulling band, e.g. a plastic rack,through the toy while in meshing engagement with a pinion gear connectedto said flywheel. The present invention represents further improvementsof toys of the type of Serial No. 257,432, and perm-its the fabricationof simple, durable, low-cost toys, preferably molded of plastic, and inthe case of flying toys having a light weight so as to be able to obtainextended flights.

In the preferred form of the present invention, the toy main bodyusually is molded as a substantially flat strip except for wall memeberswhich rotatably support a propeller shaft and pinion gear defined bysaid shaft. The flat strip comprising the main body can be thickenednear said Wall members in order to provide a bracing and grippingsurface for the childs fingers and prevent distortion of the toy body asthe plastic rack is rapidly pulled through said toy. The assembly of thevarious toy parts is simple, and the toy parts can be made so as to beshipped and sold in a substantially flat condition. Other aspects andadvantages of the toy will become apparent from the following drawingsand descriptions, which include a preferred embodiment of the inventionand wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a toy helicopter of the invention showing theactuating plastic rack in cross-section.

FIGURE 2 is a view partly in section and partly broken taken along thelines 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front view, partly in section and perspective, showing theplastic rack being inserted through the toy body.

FIGURE 4 is a top view, on a reduced scale, further illustrating thehelicopter and the rack.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, sectional view taken along the line 5-5 ofFIGURE 3, illustrating the lower side of the propeller hub.

FIGURE 6 is a top view of a toy airplane of the invention engaged with apulling band which is shown as broken.

FIGURE 7 is a side view, with the pulling band in cross-section, of thetoy airplane of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a front view of the airplane of FIG- URES 6 and 7.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 10 is a side view of a toy racing car showing a pulling rack incross-section and further illustrating my invention.

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view taken along the line 1111 of FIGURE 10 andomitting the pulling rack.

Reference is now made to the drawings in detail. The toy helicopter ofFIGURES 1 to 5 has a fuselage struc- 3,237,342 Patented Mar. 1, 1966ture including the relatively large, flat tail 10', the intermediateflat body portion 11 and the thicker, e.g. about .05 to .07 inch, flatbody portion 12. A longitudinally extending stiffening rib 13, helpsbrace and impart rigidity to the thin, e.g. about .025 to .030 inch,flat portions 10 and 11. The fuselage further includes the transverselyextending upper and lower flat supporting members 15 and 16, formed withcircular apertures 17 and '18, respectively, for reception of thecylindrical propeller shaft 19. The propeller shaft 19 is assembled tothe fuselage by pressing said shaft through apertures 17 and 18 so thatthe lower cylindrical boss 20 extends into aperture 18 and the annularflange 21 bears against the under-side of the top wall member 15, inOrder to journal the shaft 19 for free rotation within apertures 17 and18. During this assembly operation, the annular flange 21 is forcedthrough the slightly smaller circular aperture 17, which aperture willtemporarily expand since the wall 15 is made of a slightly resilientplastic, e.g. polyethylene. Once flange 21 has passed through aperture17, the aperture 17 will resume its normal diameter due to the slightelasticity of wall 15 so as to retain the shaft 19. Preferably, thefuselage is also formed with outwardly extending side members 22 and 23integral with sup-porting members 15 and 16 to define a rectangularframe. Side members 22 and 23 define ribs 24, 25, 26 and 27. These sidemembers 22 and 23, and their integral ribs 24 to 27, serve to impartrigidity around the propeller shaft 19. The ribs 24 and 25 also serve asguides for rapid-1y directing a toothed flexible plastic rack 28 intoengagement With the complementary gear teeth 29 defined by the lowerportion of shaft 19. Ribs 24 and 26 also serve as bearing surfaces forthe shaft 19.

The wheel unit is preferably a single molded piece 30 including thewheels 31, axle portion 32 and the tab 33 having ears 34. The wheelunits is assembled to the fuselage simply by pushing the slightlyresilient tab 33 and ears 34 through the rectangular aperture 35 untilthe cars 34 are retained by the bottom wall 16.

Mount-ed on the upper portion of the shaft 19 is the propeller unitwhich includes the hub 36, and the propelling vane or blades 37terminating in the outer ring 38. The hub 36 defines arcuate apertures39 which act to permit outward expansion of the central portion of theslightly elastic hub 36 as it is assembled onto shaft 19 by forcing thehub aperture 40 over the annular flange 41. Hub 36 is then retainedbetween annular flange 41 and 48 of shaft 19. The arm 42, extending fromshaft 19 can then engage one of the stop-s 43, integral with hub 36, soas to prevent the hub 36 from slipping relative to shaft 19 when shaft19 is rapidly spun.

The pulling band or rack 28 is preferably molded of a tough, slightlyresilient plastic such as polyethylene, and is formed with a series ofgear teeth 44 complementary to the pinion gear teeth 29 of the propellershaft 19. The outer or rear end of rack 28 is provided with the handle45. To operate, the front end of the semirigid, self-supporting, rack 28is simply pushed through the toy fuselage, while being guided by theribs 25 and 24 so that its teeth 44 will mesh with the gear teeth 29thus rotating the propeller shaft 19 with is propeller unit in aclockwise direction when viewed from the top. The rack 28 is preferablypushed in until the handle 45 is as close to the fuselage as isconvenient as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The fuselage body is then heldfirmly by the child with one hand at the thickened wall portion 12,while the child rapidly pulls the flexible rack 28 away from thefuselage body with his other hand by means of the handle 45. This causesa very rapid rotation of the shaft 19 and the propeller unit. After therack 28 is pulled completely free of the fuselage, i.e. clear of teeth29, the helicopter is then released by the child whereupon it will becarried into flight by its now rapidly rotating blades 37.

The present invention permits a flying toy helicopter of extremely lightweight, e.g. about an ounce, yet with a large tail area to minimizerotating of the fuselage body with the propeller while the helicopter isin flight, due to the slight frictional engagement of the rotatingpropeller shaft 19 and the fuselage. This rotational movement can befurther minimized by forming the entire fuselage body as a substantiallyfiat surface, so as to generate even more wind resistance to thetendency of the fuselage to rotate with the propeller. At the same time,by means of the simple outwardly extending top and bottom walls and 16,sufficient journ-aling surface is provided for mounting the propellershaft 19. This bottom wall 16 also provides a simple means for fixingthe landing wheels which can be provided, if desired.

Preferably the complete helicopter toy is molded of a slightly resilientplastic, such as polyethylene in five pieces, namely the fuselage, thewheel unit, the propeller shaft, the propeller unit and the pullingrack. The toy is preferably packaged as a substantially flat package,e.g. in flat transparent bags, with only the propeller shaftpreassembled in the fuselage, with the assembly of the propeller unitonto the shaft and the assembly of the wheel unit onto the fuselage tobe later carried out by the consumer. Alternatively, the toy can be soldcompletely assembled, but this has the disadvantage of requiring alarger, and more rigid package to prevent damage to the toy in transportand storage.

The pinion teeth 29 are preferebly located sufficiently below the outerring 38 and blades 37, so that the rack 28 can be pushed in quite closeto the fuselage without the childs hand H hitting the blades 37 or theouter ring 38. Inv this manner, essentially the full length of the rack28 can be conveniently utilized in the operating, i.e. the pulling,stroke. Otherwise, if the pinion gear teeth 29 are located too close tothe blades 37, then it is not as convenient to insert or withdraw therack 28 from engagement with teeth 23 since care has to be taken toavoid hitting the blades 37 and ring 38. Generally, an inch or morebetween the bottom of the blades 37 or ring 38, and the top of the rack28 will provide suflicient clearance for the childs hand.

The weight of the fuselage can be reduced by voids or omission ofmaterial in the helicopter body, which voids can define attractivedesigns such as the military insignia 46 and the pilot 47.

The rack 28 can be a long straight strip, but is preferably arcuate,e.g. simliar to an incompleted circle as shown in the view in FIGURE 4where the rack 28 is shown inserted about half way into the helicopterfuselage. Before the pulling stroke, the rack 28 is inserted, of course,until the handle 45 is as close as practical to the helicopter body 12,as in FIGURE 2, so as to obtain the most effective use of the rack. Aspreviously indicated, the pulling band, such as rack 28, is preferablyinjection molded of a plastic such as polyethylene. During the operatingor pulling stroke, the slightly flexible rack 28 will then tend tostraighten out due to the resistance to the pulling stroke by engagementwith pinion teeth 29 and the drag of the propeller unit and its shaft19. However, once clear of the helicopter and free of engagement withpinion teeth 29, the rack will tend to resume its arcuate shape due tothe natural elasticity of the plastic.

FIGURES 6 to 9 represent my invention as applied to a winged flyingplane, having the flat fuselage strip 50, the vertical tail 51, orrudder, the horiozntal tails 52, and the fixed wings 53. Extending fromthe front end of the fuselage strip 50, and molded integrally therewith,is the rectangular propeller supporting frame F including the top andbottom parallel members 54 and 55 respectively, and the vertical endmembers 56 and 57 which are perpendicular to the propeller shaft 58. Thepropeller shaft S or 58 is formed, respectively, at its inner portionwith the gear teeth 59 and is reduced in outer diameter at its inner endto define the boss 60 which projects through the aperture 61 defined inwall 56 into the open space or void 62. defined in the forward end ofthe flat fuselage strip 50. The annular flange 63, molded integrallywith shaft 58, bears against the innerside of wall 57 so as to hold thecylindrical shaft 58 rotatably journaled within circular apertures 61and 64. The relatively heavy ribs 65 and 66 extend transversely acrossthe walls 54 and 55 respectively, and have inner rounded edges adjacentthe propeller shaft 58, so as to act as bearing surfaces to helprotatably support the shaft 58. The propeller unit P includes the outerannular ring 67 joined by the propeller blades or vanes 68 to the hub69. The hub 69' defines the square aperture 70 for engagement with theouter portion of the propeller shaft 58 which has the complementarysquare cross-section 71. The propeller hub 69 is assembled onto theshaft 58 by simply pressing the hub 69 over the cone 72, and over thepropeller shafts annular flange 73, until the hub 69 seats on thepropeller shaft 58 as shown in FIGURE 9, where said hub is retainedbetween annular flanges 73 and 74 defined by said shaft. In this way,the propeller unit P is easily and quickly assembled onto the propellershaft S, i.e. 58, and yet because of the arrangement shown, thepropeller unit P is held keyed to the shaft S so as to prevent slippingduring rapid rotation of said propeller unit and said shaft. The shaft58 is assembled to the fuselage by pressing flange 63 through theslightly elastic aperture 64 into the position shown in FIGURE 6. Theairplane toy is operated. by first threading the outer end 76 of theplastic, toothed, pulling band or rack through the toy while said rack75 is guided, by engagement with walls 54,. 56 and the rib 65, so thatthe teeth 77 become engaged with the complementary pinion teeth 59. Therack 75 is thus pushed into the fuselage as far as is convenient. Therack 75 can be flat as shown, or it can be arcuate, e.g. in the arcuateform of the rack utilized in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 5. In anyevent, the number of teeth defined by the rack 75 should be severaltimes the number of teeth defined by the pinion gear 59, for example 5to 30 times as great, so that upon rapidly pulling the previouslythreaded rack 75 through the airplane toy on the operating stroke, bymeans of its handle 78, the shaft S and propeller unit P is set intorapid spinning motion. Upon complete withdrawal of the rack by saidrapidly pulling stroke, the airplane can be let go by the childwhereupon it will go into flight.

In order to minimize the weight of the toy, the wings 53 can be formedso as to define a series of voids or open spaces 79 in the form of adecorative design. Although these voids will tend to reduce the liftproduced on the wings 53, by making the propeller unit P relativelylarge as shown, sufiicient pulling power is generated by the propellerunit P itself so that the lift of the wings is not particularly needed.Instead, the wings 53 will function to a large extent to merelystabilize the toy in flight so as to prevent rotation of the toy body 50about its longitudinal axis, which rotation tends to occur due tofrictional engagement between the rapidly rotating propeller shaft 58and the fuselage and its bearing surfaces. By having the outer portionsof the wings 53 in the form of a solid sheet as shown, this rotationaltendency is further minimized. Of course, such voids 79 can beeliminated and the wings '53 can be a non-perforated sheet.

It has been found to be an advantage in making the apertures 61 and 64somewhat larger than the diameter of the boss 60 and of the propellershaft 58 respectively, so that the shaft 58 is loosely held within theseapertures. By making these apertures 61 and 64 relatively large, thenmost of the bearing and supporting action of the shaft 58 is done by therelatively large ribs 65 and 66. Because of their relatively large mass,ribs 65 and 66 are better able to support the rapidly rotating shaft 58and to absorb the heat of friction generated by contact with saidrotating shaft 58. In addition, ribs 65 and 66 add rigidity to therectangular frame defined by members 54 to 57. On the other hand,without ribs 65 and 66, there would be a tendency for the cylindricalshaft 58 and its boss 60, to unduly enlarge the circular apertures 61and 64, due to increased rubbing engagement of the rotating shaft 58against the walls defining these apertures. If this increased rubbingengagement occurs, the aperture 64 would tend to work largerparticularly if defined by a soft plastic such as polyethylene, andeventually it might work large enough to permit the retain ing flange 63to pass through the enlarged aperture 64 so that the shaft 58 would workloose from the remainder of the toy plane.

It has been found desirable to incorporate a stiffening rib 80,proximate the area 81 where the child will grasp the toy during thepulling stroke, i.e. at the junction of the wings 53, the wall 56, andbody 50, so as to minimize distortion of the fuselage 50 when the rackis pulled through the toy.

In this particular embodiment shown, the fuselage 50, the tail members51 and 52, the wings 53, the rib 80, the rectangular or box-like frameincluding walls 54, 55, 56, 57, as well as ribs 65 and 66, can all bemolded as a single integral piece of plastic, e.g. polyethylene. Thepropeller shaft 58, together with portions 59, 60, 63, 71 to 74 can bemolded as another single member. The propeller unit, including theelements 67, 68, and 69 can be molded as a third single integral member,while the rack 75, with its teeth 77 and handle 78 can be molded as afourth integral member. Thus, the entire toy can consist of only fourmolded pieces and two assembly steps-namely, the assembly of thepropeller shaft 58 onto the fuselage and a second assembly step whichcan better be carried out by the ultimate user, of forcing the propellerunit onto the propeller shaft 58. Thus, I have provided an inexpensive,durable, low-cost toy, easily molded and assembled and capable ofextended flights. For example, a polyethylene sample of the toy airplanein substantially the shape and relative proportions as shown in thedrawings, with a wing thickness of about 0.8 millimeter was able to makeflights of about 60 feet.

FIGURES and 11 illustrate another form of my invention as applied to atoy racing car having the fiat, plastic body 90 simulating thesilhouette of a racing car with driver 91, and including the integrallymolded axles 92, upon whose outer portions are mounted the rotatablespoked wheels 93. Molded integrally with the rear of the car body 90, isthe rectangular frame F, carrying the rotatable shaft S and thepropeller unit P. The frame F and the shaft S are exactly the same asthat shown in the embodiment of FIGURES 6 to 9. The propeller unit P ofFIGURES 10 and 11 is similar to the propeller unit P of FIGURES 6 to 9,except that the blades 68' are shorter and the pitch of the blades 68'is shown as reversed from the pitch of blades 68 so as to push the carforward (as opposed to pulling the airplane of FIG- URES 6 to 9forward). Strengthening ribs 94 and 95 can be molded integrally with thesubstantially fiat car body 90 so as to minimize distortion of the frameF (which is also integrally molded with body 90), as the actuating rack75 is rapidly pulled through the toy dur ing the operating or powerstroke. The ends of the axles 92 define cones 97 which are slit at 98.The hubs 99 of wheels 93 are pushed over cones 97, whose slightlyresilient split sections are forced inwardly to allow passage of the hub99. Once the hub 99 is seated on the reduced diameter axle section 100,the split cone sec tions spring apart to maintain the wheel 93 rotatablysupported between the flanges 101 and 102.

To operate, the fan or propeller unit P is set into rapid spinningmotion by means of rack 75 (or rack 28) in a manner as previouslydescribed. The car is then set upon a flat surface upon which said carwill now be driven 6 forward by its rapidly rotating propeller P untilthe momentum of the propeller P' is lost. By inserting the pulling rack75 into the opposite side of the toy, the

. propeller P' will be spun in a reversed manner upon pulling the rack75 out during the operating stroke. This will, of course, cause the autoto move in a backward direction.

In the present invention toys can be formed having at least a portion ofthe body as a substantially flat strip onto which is integrally molded asupporting frame, e.g. frame F, for rotatably supporting the driving orpropeller shaft. Such a flat strip construction enables minimizing theweight of the toy, which is particularly important in the case of theflying toys. At the same time, the preferred supporting frameconstructions shown permit integrally molding the frame with the flatbody portion since the resulting molded integral piece can be easilyremoved from a split-cavity injection mold. In addition, by forming atleast a portion of the toy as a flat strip, the cost of the toy is keptlow due to resultant savings in material and the avoidance or minimizingof assembly steps. In brief, the invention is directed primarily to lowcost, simple, durable toys requiring a minimum of assembly and yieldinga high performance, e.g. excellent flying ability in the case of theflying toys shown.

While plastic is the preferred form of construction material,particularly in the case of the flying toys, it will be apparent thatwhere weight is of a lesser consideration, e.g. in the case of the auto,that metal, e.g. zinc diecastings, or other materials, can be usedeither for the entire toy or part of the toy.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a substantially flat body portion defining a plane,the width of said body portion perpendicular to said plane beingrelatively narrow; a substantially-rectangular frame integrallyconnected to said body portion, the width of said frame perpendicular tosaid plane being relatively wide, said frame having front, back, top andbottom walls extending outwardly from both sides of said body portionand perpendicular to said plane, two of said walls which are opposeddefining aligned apertures having centers in said plane of said flatbody portion, a shaft extending within said apertures and rotatablyjournaled by said frame, a portion of said shaft within said framedefining pinion gear teeth, said shaft having an outer portion outsideof said frame, a propeller carried by said outer portion for conjointrotation therewith, a flexible plastic rack having teeth on one sideengageable with said pinion gear teeth and guide surfaces defined bysaid frame proximate said pinion teeth for guiding said rack intomeshing engagement with said pinion gear teeth upon insertion of saidrack through said rectangular frame and between said guide surfaces andsaid pinion gear, whereby upon rapidly pulling said rack out of saidinsertion, said propeller is rapidly spun to thereby drive said toy.

2. A toy according to claim 1 wherein: said toy is a toy plasticairplane, said flat body portion represents a fuselage, said wallsdefining said aligned apertures are said front and rear walls, and saidflat body portion carries wings and tail members.

3. A toy according to claim 1 wherein: said toy is a toy plastichelicopter, said flat body portion represents a helicopter fuselage andwherein said walls defining said aligned apertures are the top andbottom walls.

4. A toy acording to claim 1 wherein: said toy is a toy auto, said flatbody portion represents an auto body, said body portion carries axlesand wheels, and said walls defining said aligned apertures are saidfront and rear walls.

5. A toy according to claim 1 wherein: said frame defines relativelythick ribs which act as bearing supports for said shaft and wherein saidshaft fits loosely within said aligned apertures.

7 8 6. A toy according to claim 1 wherein: said shaft is 2,755,5967/1956 Weil 4675 provided with an ear, said propeller having a hollowhub 2,781,989 2/ 1957 Hagood et a1 4675 provided with a stop on theoutside of said hub, said ear 3,068,611 12/1962 Lauderdale 46-75engaging said stop to hold said shaft and said hub to- FOREIGN PATENTSgether for conjoint rotary movement. 5

14,124 1895 Great Britaln. References Cited by the Examiner 1'1 great great ritain. UNITED STATES PATENTS 743,102 1/1956 Great Britain. 755,4463/1904 Butcher 4667 2,642,698 6/1953 Fishburne 46-75 10 RICHARD C.PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

1. A TOY COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT BODY PORTION DEFINING A PLANE,THE WIDTH OF SAID BODY PORTION PERPENDICULAR TO SAID PLANE BEINGRELATIVELY NARROW; A SUBSTANTIALLY-RECTANGULAR FRAME INTEGRALLYCONNECTED TO SAID BODY PORTION, THE WIDTH OF SAID FRAME PERPENDICULAR TOSAID PLANE BEING RELATIVELY WIDE, SAID FRAME HAVING FRONT, BACK, TOP ANDBOTTOM WALLS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM BOTH SIDES OF SAID BODY PORTIONAND PERIPENDICULAR TO SAID PLANE, TWO OF SAID WALLS WHICH ARE OPPOSEDDEFINING ALGINED APERTURES HAVING CENTERS IN SAID PLANE OF SAID FLATBODY PORTION, A SHAFT EXTENDING WITHIN SAID APERTURES AND ROTATABLYJOURNALED BY SAID FRAME, A PORTION OF SAID SHAFT WITHIN SAID FRAMEDEFINING PINION GEAR TEETH, SAID SHAFT HAVING AN OUTER PORTION OUTSIDEOF SAID FRAME, A PROPELLER CARRIED BY SAID OUTER PORTION FOR CONJOINTROTATION THEREWITH, A FLEXIBLE PLASTIC RACK HAVING TEETH ON ONE SIDEENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PINION GEAR TEETH AND GUIDE SURFACE DEFINED BY SAIDFRAME PROXIMATE SAID PINION TEETH FOR GUIDING SAID RACK INTO MESHINGENGAGEMENT WITH SAID PINION GEAR TEETH UPON INSERTION OF SAID RACKTHROUGH SAID RECTANGULAR FRAME AND BETWEEN SAID GUIDE SURFACES AND SAIDPINION GEAR, WHEREBY UPON RAPIDLY PULLING SAID RACK OUT OF SAIDINSERTION, SAID PROPELLER IS RAPIDLY SPUN TO THEREBY DRIVE SAID TOY.